The Copper Basin Resource Council Food Bank received a shot in the arm to food assistance last year, but it is set to expire soon. Lakota McRoberts, a core volunteer for the food bank, stated “We are receiving about 120 prepackaged boxes each month, along with two pallets of supplemental food, which made a huge difference—especially for those who couldn’t access SNAP due to ongoing delays.”
This week, core volunteer Paul White confirmed the food bank will stop receiving the additional boxes at the end of May. “It will be a blow,” he said, especially since the demand for food assistance has gone up since last year.
According to White, local need continues to rise. He estimates about 160 people regularly used the food bank less than a year ago, and now the number is closer to 250. He cited the same pressures all Copper Basin residents can see for themselves: rising costs of groceries and gas. Residents’ incomes, he said, are not keeping up.
According to White, some residents have missed food bank appointments because they do not have the gas to get there.
In December of 2025, the State of Alaska allocated $4 million in emergency food assistance to the Food Bank of Alaska. The distribution was a lifeline when delays in federal food aid combined with disasters in Western Alaska. With this funding, The Food Bank assembled prepackaged boxes with a variety of shelf stable foods to distribute to pantries around the state.
The short term urgency in late 2025 occurred in an environment already straining under longer term need and rising costs statewide. In a Food Bank of Alaska press release announcing the state assistance in December, MatSu Food Bank Executive Director Fred Becker noted increases in need “across every service category over the past three years.”
According to a report by Alaska Public Media, the funds are set to expire in June.
McRoberts stated, “We’ll still have food available, just not nearly as much as before.”
As a bright spot, White stated the food bank will begin to receive boxes of frozen foods, which he believes will be boxes of fish sticks. Those frozen foods may continue to arrive through June, but it is difficult to be sure. Meanwhile, White said, the food bank will mostly rely on goods provided through the federal emergency food assistance program (TEFAP).
While White appreciates the federal program, he says, “You never know what you’re going to get.” He listed canned peaches and spaghetti sauce as possibilities.
The Copper Basin Resource Council Food Bank does not only serve the immediate area. White stated people come from as far away as Slana, Mentasta, and Eureka, often carpooling or picking up food for multiple households.
When I asked White if there was anything else the community should know, he said, “We accept donations.”
Disclosure: Lakota McRoberts is a frequent staff contributor to the Copper River Record.
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